warnerbrosfandomcom-20200224-history
MGM Home Entertainment
MGM Home Entertainment (formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video arm of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1986, MGM's pre-May 1986 library (also including the pre-1950 Warner Bros. library, Bugs Bunny: Superstar, the Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios Popeye cartoons, most US rights to the RKO Pictures library, and Gilligan's Island and its animated spin-offs), was acquired by Ted Turner and his company Turner Entertainment Co.. After the library was acquired, MGM/UA signed a deal with Turner to continue distributing the pre-May 1986 MGM and to begin distributing the pre-1950 Warner Bros. libraries for video release (the rest of the library went to Turner Home Entertainment). In October 1990, after Pathé bought MGM, MGM/UA Home Video struck a deal with Warner Home Video to have them distribute MGM/UA titles exclusively on home video. The deal also included the United Artists library, which came full circle after WHV had handled international distribution of UA's releases. Robert Harris interview with George Feltenstein TheDigitalBits.com (October 28, 2004) In 1996, Warner made an exclusive deal with Image Entertainment to distribute MGM/UA titles on LaserDisc. In 1997, MGM/UA began releasing its titles on DVD, just like every other major studio. Some of the films MGM released on DVD were from the Turner catalog, which they were still allowed to keep after Turner merged into Time Warner some time before because of their distribution deal. That same year, MGM acquired Orion Pictures. As a result, Orion Home Video (Orion's home video division) was bought out by MGM/UA, and was retained as an in-name-only division until the acquisition deal was finalized in 1998. In 1998, the company was renamed MGM Home Entertainment. In March 1999, MGM paid Warner Bros. $225 million to end their distribution agreement in February 2000; the initial deal was to have expired in 2003. As a result of the deal, MGM gave up the home video rights to the MGM/UA films owned by Turner to Warner Home Video. Upon the expiration of the Warner deal, MGM sold international video rights to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. In 2010, parent company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had emerged from bankruptcy. As of 2011, MGM no longer releases or markets its own movies. Instead, MGM now resorts to co-distributing with other studios that handle all distribution and marketing for MGM's projects. Since then, only some of the MGM's most recent movies, such as ''Skyfall, Red Dawn, ''Carrie, RoboCop, If I Stay, Poltergeist and Spectre have all been released on DVD and Blu-ray by its home video output and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Others, such as The Hobbit, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Hercules, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, Creed, 22 Jump Street, Ben-Hur and The Magnificent Seven have been released by the home video output of the co-distributor, in this case Warner Home Video, Paramount Home Media Distribution and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment respectively. MGM also did not release Orion Pictures' remake of The Town That Dreaded Sundown on DVD or Blu-ray. That title was released by Image Entertainment. MGM/Fox will not handle the DVD/Blu-ray release of ''Operation Finale on December 4, 2018. Instead, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will distribute this title. References Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Category:United Artists Category:Non-WarnerMedia companies Category:Home video companies of the United States Category:Home Video Category:Non-WarnerMedia Category:Warner Home Video Category:Companies Category:Castle Rock Entertainment Category:If I Stay Category:The Wizard of Oz Category:The Pebble and the Penguin Category:Looney Tunes